Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
July 24, 2022
Opening Prayer
The Psalms of Ascent
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills.From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be
moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on
your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep
you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
Romans 8:18-24 (ESV)
18 For I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be
revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with
eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For
the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of
him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the
creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the
freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For
we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the
pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the
creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as
sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in
this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes
for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do
not see, we wait for it with patience.
8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy [of comparison] with the about-to-be-revealed-glory in us.
“I consider…”
1.
What is the role of human reason in Christian
theology?
a.
Majesterial use vs. ministerial use.
i. “I
believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body
and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and
still takes care of them.” – Small Catechism, Apostles’ Creed
ii. “Reason
is the Devil’s greatest whore; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious
whore; she is a prostitute, the Devil’s appointed whore; whore eaten by scab
and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her
wisdom … Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is and she ought to be
drowned in baptism… She would deserve, the wretch, to be banished to the
filthiest place in the house, to the closets.” [Martin Luther, Erlangen Edition
v. 16, pp. 142-148]
b.
“Consider” – on the basis of what?
i. What
does the Word say?
ii. What
about …
1.
Science?
2.
Observation?
3. Politics/Public Opinion?
“I consider the sufferings of the present time …”
1.
Time – Kairos – an appointed chosen time.
a.
Matthew 24:36 – But concerning that day and
hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the
Son, but the Father only.
b.
Acts 1:7 – Jesus said to them, “It is not
for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own
authority.
c.
Galatians 4:4-5 – But when the fullness of
time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under
the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might
receive adoption as sons.
d.
Acts 17:26-28 – And he made from one man every
nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined
allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel
their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of
us, for
e.
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
2.
Present-time = NOW
3.
What kinds of things do people suffer in
general?
4.
What kinds of things are we called to suffer for
Christ’s sake?
“… are not worthy [of comparison] with …”
1.
The idea of comparison is in the structure of
the sentence.
2.
Our sufferings are not worthy of comparison with
…
a.
Is this saying that our suffering does not
matter?
b.
How do we sometimes feel about our sufferings
compared to the sufferings of others?
i. One-upmanship
ii. Gratitude
“… not worthy [of comparison] with the about-to-be-revealed-glory
in us.”
1.
What glory?
a.
John 13:31 – Jesus said, “Now is the Son of
Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”
b.
Isaiah 53 – Who has believed what he has heard
from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he
grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he
had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should
desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But
he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon
him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
2.
How is this glory revealed?
a.
Absolution.
b.
Repentance.
c.
Forgiveness.
d.
Resurrection.
e.
The coming of the New Creation.
3.
How is this glory “in us”?
Comments